


Into the Fray

by Neon_Zephyr



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comic)
Genre: Gen, Mild Language, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-23
Updated: 2015-06-23
Packaged: 2018-04-05 18:54:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4191153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Neon_Zephyr/pseuds/Neon_Zephyr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a devastating attack on Echidnapolis, the Dark Legion captures the Brotherhood and Chaotix, leaving Knuckles to gather what help he can to rescue his friends and family before it's too late. Prompt fill.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Into the Fray

**Author's Note:**

> Another prompt ordered by MightyRay last year. 
> 
> As described in the summary, the Legion basically all but levels Echidnapolis, capturing everyone they can (including most of both the Brotherhood and the Chaotix) and killing those they can't. Knuckles and Locke escape, parting ways to catch up with the Legion's fleet and rescue their friends/family. 
> 
> Part of the same AU as the other Knuckles prompt, featuring a few minor characters whose AU details are below:  
> Mello the Bee: Still alive  
> Monk the Gorilla: Also still alive, and no longer a bully. Ray's wrestling coach.  
> Benjy the Kangaroo: One-shot character from the comics, friend to the Chaotix.
> 
> Prompt begins in Mushroom Hill, after Knuckles splits up with Locke and joins up with Ray, Saffron, and Benjy. 
> 
> (Violence tag instead of warning, as this is generally mild for my writings. It's a little more graphic than the old comic universe, though)

The young echidna narrowed his eyes, gazing up into the sky. The large warship was soaring through the light cloud cover, in an almost lazy manner.

_The Legion’s taunting us_ , Knuckles scowled, _and the rest of Mobius._

_Please be okay._

“Knuckles?” A soft voice broke through his thoughts. He turned to face it.

Ray looked up at him, the flying squirrel gingerly rubbing his arm. He was a few feet away, just past the cover of the trees.

“We’re gonna stop ‘em, right?” Benjy asked, the young kangaroo stepping out from the forest behind them. His head was slightly bowed, gaze focused at the ground near Knuckles’s feet. Saffron hovered in the air just behind him. Her eyes were slightly pink, still glistening with the tears she refused to shed.

“Of course we are,” Ray’s voice hardened, speaking before Knuckles could. He glared down at the ground, solidly gripping at his own arm. “We’re going to save them. All of them. And the Legion is going down for everything they’ve done.”

Knuckles blinked slightly. He gave the slightest smile, nodding once.

“Absolutely,” he said. “They’ll pay for every life they’ve ruined.” _And taken,_ he added to himself.

“But how?” A soft voice spoke from nearby.

Knuckles turned sharply towards the source, finding nothing but air.

“Who are you?” Knuckles snapped. “I don’t have the time—or patience—for games; show yourself!” He took a fighting stance.

A pink chameleon materialized into view, standing almost directly beside Ray. She wore a pair of black boots, the ankles wrapped with yellow strips, and a like-colored vest.

“Liza?” Knuckles recognized her from Espio’s rare stories about the Rainbow Valley.

“Guardian.” She gave the echidna a friendly nod. “I understand you must be eager to chase after the Legion—the Valley still burns from the fires of their attack there, and I am just as eager to avenge my friends and family as you.” She place a hand on Ray’s shoulder, giving him a tired, but warm, smile. “But, they would not want us to get ourselves killed by attacking mindlessly.”

Ray gave her a hard look.

“Right.” He nodded.

“So.” She turned back to Knuckles, walking towards him. “What _is_ our plan?”

“Good question. They’re already on the move; it seems most of them are in their main warship, with smaller ones for support.” He brought one hand to his mouth in thought, looking back up at the fleet. “The first question is how to get up there? Even with an Emerald, I can’t glide _that_ high.”

“I-I…” Saffron started, before clearing her throat and steadying her voice. “I can fly high enough. Maybe I can take one of us to one of the smaller ships and—”

“No,” Knuckles shook his head, “there are too many of them. They’d see us long before I could even attempt to take over even a saucer. We’ve be slaughtered, and that’d help no one.” He looked up at the fleet. His father had had a Warp Ring, but….

His face lit up.

“Hey!” He shouted at apparently no one. “Archie!”

A cloud of dust burst above a nearby boulder with a loud _bamf!_ It cleared, revealing a small fire ant standing upon it. He was holding onto a gold ring, the nearly-flawless object almost as tall as he was.

“Archimedes!” Knuckles addressed him. “You’re a mind reader!”

“Thank your father, lad.” Archimedes handed Knuckles the Warp Ring. “He’s already engaged the Legion. He’s fightin’ them in their main ship, somewhere on the port side.”

“By himself?” Knuckles breathed, while his companions gasped. “That’s suicide!”

“Your father can handle ‘imself,” Archimedes said. “He’s been a Guardian since long before you were born, an’ _he’s_ the one taking _them_ by surprise, this time.”

“And,” Liza added, catching on, “it’s not like they can just fire that beam at him. The ship’s halls have to be narrow; they’d either hit their own soldiers, or risk damaging the ship.”

“They’ll all be focused on him.” Knuckles’s mind kicked into overdrive. “They’ll just assume that he’s charging desperately, trying to save the others.” _Or avenge them, if he’s too late._ “They won’t be expecting a coordinated attack—or any type of thought-out plan. So,” he grinned, “that’s exactly what we’ll give them.”

He looked at the Warp Ring.

It was tempting to just use it to Warp straight to the bridge of the Battle Cruiser above them, to just go straight after Kragok and beat the tar out of him. But, that wouldn’t save his friends—in fact, it might make the Legion decide to forgo their original plan to use the Guardians and Chaotix as examples and just kill them anyway.

That could not happen.

He couldn’t just Warp to each captive, either, since he had no way of knowing what rooms they were in. Maybe once they’d rescued a few, they’d learn where the others were, but….

“We’ll Warp into a cargo hold on the starboard side.” Knuckles decided. “There’ll be fewer Legionnaires there, especially while my father is attacking on the opposite side of the ship.”

“So,” Liza said, “we can start with limited resistance, take them by surprise. Maybe even rescue a few of our friends before they know what’s going on. It’s not perfect, but I think it’s a pretty darn good plan.”

“Indeed.” Archimedes nodded.

“You think it could work?” Benjy asked. “You think we can… we can save them?”

“Yes.” Knuckles nodded.

“It’s worth a try,” Saffron added. “We can’t just leave them to….” She trailed off, her voice wavering briefly. “We can’t just abandoned them.”

“Ray?” Knuckles noticed that the flying squirrel was still glaring at the ground.

“They have Mighty,” Ray said softly. “And Charmy. And Espio. Julie-Su.”

The squirrel looked up at the echidna.

“Let’s go save them,” his eyes burned as they locked gazes, “and beat the Legion into scrap metal.”

“Them, and their ship,” Knuckles almost chuckled. He cleared his throat. “We all ready to go?”

“As I’ll ever be,” Benjy said, taking a deep breath. He gently cracked his knuckles.

“Let’s save our friends,” Saffron added.

“My home needs the Guardians and Chaotix if it is ever to recover,” Liza added. “Let’s do this!”

Knuckles looked at Archimedes.

“I am going to return to your father, now,” the fire ant said. “I will check in on your team, keep information flowing between you and him.” He looked up at Knuckles. “Stay safe, lad. And… tell Sabre….” He coughed. “Good hunting, Guardian.” He vanished with another _bamf!_

Knuckles exhaled deeply, tossing the Warp Ring up. It spun open, showing a large, mechanical room, filled with similar crates.

“Let’s save our friends!” Knuckles snarled, before leading them in a charge through the Ring.

The starboard cargo bay was almost completely empty. The only presence was a single Legionnaire, seated on the ground, slouched back against a crate. His hood was down, revealing the fact that he was wearing headphones and likely just a few moments from dozing off. He didn’t even notice the sudden appearance of five outsiders—

—Not until Knuckles pulled them off, tossing them aside. The Legionnaire barely had time to notice the absence before the Guardian grabbed him by the neck of his cloak. He lifted the cyborg by it, slamming him up against the crate. His cybernetics appeared to solely consist of replacement dreads, resulting in him being unable to do anything but make a choking sound.

“Where are the prisoners?” Knuckles barked. “The Guardians and Chaotix! _Now!_ ” He punctuated with extra pressure on his body, pushing him harder against the crate.

“I swear—!” He wheezed. “I don’t… know! They’ve… split… them up. All… over the… ship—please I’m… just a….!” He made another wet sound as he attempted to breathe.

Knuckles released him. The Legionnaire slumped to the ground, grabbing at his neck and taking large, grateful breaths.

Knuckles then hit him on the head—hard. He fell the rest of the way to the ground, face first, unconscious.

“That was a little… extreme, Knuckles,” Saffron said, giving him a concerned look.

“We can risk him raising the alarm,” the echidna defended himself. “We’ll be knocking a lot more Legionnaires out in just a minute. Besides,” he added, softer, “I didn’t kill him.”

“Right.” Benjy still didn’t seem convinced.

“If you don’t think…” Knuckles started, before clearing his throat. “If you don’t want to fight, to… hurt people, even the Legion, no one will judge you for choosing to sit this one out.” He looked around, at each of the others. “None of you.”

Ray simply glared at the unconscious Legionnaire, while the other three exchanged uneasy glances that slowly morphed to determined expressions.

“I can’t,” Saffron said, “not so long as Charmy and the others need me.”

“What would my mother think?” Benjy said. “If she… I couldn’t face her again if I ran away now.”

“Espio and the others have done so much for the Valley,” Liza stressed. “Now, it is my turn to fight for them.”

Ray slammed a fist into his opposite hand.

“They have Mighty. I _have_ to fight.” He looked at Knuckles. “C’mon! We don’t know when they’ll start—we have to hurry!” The young flying squirrel charged out of the room and into a major hallway.

“Ray!” Saffron called after him.

_Darn it_ , Knuckles sighed, as he quickly followed his friend. _I know he’s worried sick about him; we’re all worried about the others. But, he’s not going to help Mighty if he gets himself killed._ The echidna heard the others following close behind

Ray lead them through the hall, their footsteps on the metal floor and heavy breathing the only sounds, until they heard the distant sounds of an alarm blaring on the opposite side of the ship.

_Guess Dad’s got their attention,_ Knuckles thought.

After another few tense moments, Ray lead them around a corner, and right into a trio of hooded echidnas.

“What the he—!” The front one barked.

“AAAAAAAARRRRGH!” Ray yelled, leaping at her and punching her in the face.

Surprise worked in Ray’s favor, and his attack resulted in knocking her backwards to the floor.

The other two Legionnaires pulled out their blasters, aiming them at Ray.

“Who are you?”

“How did you get here?”

Knuckles gave a short yell of his own, jumping down and around Ray to hit one of the Legionnaires with a solid uppercut to their jaw.

They gave a wet cough as they stumbled backwards.

Ray grabbed the other Legionnaire’s wrist, twisting it sharply before he could react. The Legionnaire screamed, dropping his blaster. Ray pivoted slightly on one foot, raising the opposite leg to knee the Legionnaire in the crotch. The hooded echidna slumped to the floor, whimpering.

“I thought,” Liza said, having caught up, “that you had _wrestling_ training.”

Ray didn’t look at her, cracking his knuckles lightly.

“These scum don’t deserve such an honorable fight.”

Knuckles frowned.

“But,” he said, “ _you_ do. Don’t let them change you, Ray.”

“They won’t,” the flying squirrel insisted. “C’mon, let’s go!” He continued to run down the hall.

“He’s certainly determined,” Liza said, as she and Knuckles chased after him.

_He’s_ worried, Knuckles corrected to himself. _I understand how he feels._ An image of Julie-Su—the pink Echidna chained, bruised, and bloody—flashed, unbidden, before him. Knuckles’s stomach churned. “But, it’s not going to do us any good if he gets himself killed.” _He’s been becoming more and more reckless lately…_.

“True,” Liza said with a nod as they approached another group of Legionnaires from behind. “But, we’re going to need that determination if we’re going to survive, let alone succeed.”

Ray shouted again, jumping up on the back of one of the Legionnaires, wrapping his arms around theirs in a full nelson.

“What the hell?” The echidna’s hood fell, revealing his cybernetic eyes, wide with surprise. “What’s---aaaugh!”

Knuckles didn’t give the other Legionnaires time to react—he estimated about six in this party—leaping right into their midst. He punched one of them squarely on the jaw as he landed.

The Legionnaire coughed as he stumbled sideways from the momentum.

Knuckles turned slightly, only to look up to no fewer than four blasters pointed right at his face.

“’Ey!” One of the hooded echidnas said with a dark chuckle. “Looks like port side’s not the only one wit’ a Guardian infestation, eh?” He laughed more openly, the others joining in.  “We have more than enough for our show later; whadaya say we just take this one out?”

“Liza!” Knuckles shouted.

“Gotcha!” The pink chameleon reappeared behind one of the Legionnaires, just before kicking him solidly on the back of the knee. He fell forward.

“What?” One of others barked. They each turned, in varying degrees, towards the new assailant. “Where did you—?”

“EEEEEEEE-eeeeeeeeeeee!” A high-pitched shout announced Saffron’s attack as she dived-bombed the Legionnaires, swatting at each of their heads. They each flinched, one of the Legionnaires screaming as he raised his blaster again.

“BEE!” He bellowed, firing. Saffron dodged easily, and continued to dodge each blast, punctuated with another shout from the Legionnaire. “Bee! Bee! Bee! BEE!”

Knuckles took the opportunity, grabbing two of the echidnas by their hoods, and pulling them towards each other, clanking their skulls together. They fell to the ground with whimpers when he released them.

“E-excuse me,” A soft voice spoke, its owner tapping one of the Legionnaires—who was trying to avoid her teammate’s gunfire—on the shoulder.

“Hmm?” She turned to face the young kangaroo, just before he swung his tail around. It hit her in the face with a loud _thwack!_ She coughed, stumbling backwards into the wall. She covered her mouth with her metallic hand, the robotics quickly stained red with blood.

“Th-that’s for my mother!” Benjy shouted.

Saffron managed to get the Legionnaire she was terrorizing to shoot at a loose tile in the ceiling, which promptly fell onto his head, knocking him unconscious.

Knuckles looked at Ray, who still had a Legionnaire held in a firm grip from behind, both arms wrapped around his shoulders.

“Ge’off!” He shouted, turning around repeatedly and swinging his arms in vain attempt to dislodge the flying squirrel.

Ray kicked him in the back of the ankle, hitting the tendon. The echidna barked in pain, falling forward to the ground into a very loud, metallic heap.

Knuckles walked over to the echidna against the wall. She was still coughing lightly, hand over her bleeding mouth. He grabbed her by the cloak, forcing her to stand and look him in the eye.

“Where is the nearest prison cell?” Knuckles somehow managed to keep his tone calm.

“Screw you,” the echidna spat blood at him.

“I am asking politely.” Knuckles forced his temper down, even as his fists twitched. “This is your chance to save your own skin; if they die, I swear I’ll make sure you join them.”

The echidna looked at him for a long moment. She looked at Liza.

“I really don’t think you want a Guardian with nothing left to lose on your tail,” she said simply.

“All right,” the echidna sighed. “They’re keeping two echidnas in the cell just around the corner. Go down the hall, right at the corner, first door on your left.” She glared at Knuckles again. “I can’t promise they’re in any shape to leave, though. Brenton’s got quite a temper.”

“For your sake,” Knuckles released her, allowing the Legionnaire to slide against the wall to the floor again, “they better be.” He turned to the others. “C’mon.” He waved them to follow as he started to dash down the hall, following the Legionnaire’s directions.

“Wait!” Liza breathed as they approached the described door.

“What?” Ray asked, stopping with the others. “We can’t wait—what if they have—?”

“I know!” Liza placed a hand on his shoulder, keeping her voice down. “But, there could be a whole platoon in there.”

“Especially if they’re guarding the Brotherhood in there,” Knuckles agreed. _She’d said “two echidnas,” so it’s either them, or they have…_. His fists twitched again, and he had to force himself to not punch a hole in the door. “Until we regroup with others who _can_ still fight, we need to be more cautious.” He had a feeling he knew what Liza was planning. “I’m betting you want us to stand around the corner, just out of sight.” He smiled at the chameleon.

She gave him a smirk of her own.

“Guardian, I do believe you read my mind.” She then vanished from sight.

“Come on!” Knuckles breathed, grabbing Ray and Benjy by the hand as he quickly ran back around the corner. Saffron joined them without prompting.

Knuckles held his breath, placing a trembling hand against the wall.

_Please, be all right,_ he hammered out a quick prayer, not only for Liza, but for each of their friends and family. The image of a pink Echidna with a cybernetic dread flashed briefly before him.

_Please, still be alive…._

The quartet of Legionnaires opened the door and stared out into an empty hallway.

“What?” The front one, a particularly tall male with large robotic arms, blinked. “Where…? Who…?” He looked at his companions. “You heard that, right?”

“Yes, sir, Brenton, sir!” A relatively small echidna squeaked, fiddling with his dark pink dreads nervously.

“Well?” The large echidna boomed out the door. “Where are ya?”

He was answered by the sound of one of the other two echidnas barking in agony. He slumped forwards, hands in front of his crotch as if he’d been kicked.

“Four?” Liza’s apparently-disembodied voice spoke nearby him. “Two members of the Brotherhood, and they only leave four guards. I can’t believe that a group that makes that type of decision could capture them in the first place.”

A second echidna coughed as he stumbled backwards. Still invisible, Liza had kicked him on the underside of the jaw.

“What the hell?” Brenton gaped at him. “Show yourself!” He snarled.

“AAAAAAAAAAA!” The small echidna screamed suddenly, running around. “GHOST! GHOST! I TOLD THEM KILLING EVERYONE—!” He cut himself off by running out into the hallway and straight into a wall.

“That’s just pathetic,” Liza barely constrained a laugh.

“FIGHT ME LIKE A MAN!”

“That would be rather difficult,” Liza scoffed. She reappeared right behind the large echidna, just before leaping at him. She wrapped both arms around his neck, lashing her tongue out and around it, too, for good measure.

 The large echidna’s arms proved to be useless, as he simply could not reach the chameleon on his back. He tried to shout at her, only managing to cough half-curses as she tightened her grip on his airflow.

He eventually gasped, stumbling forward and passing out from the lack of oxygen.

Liza released him.

“Are you all right?” Knuckles asked as he and the others dashed in.

Liza stared at her long tongue, still sticking out, for a long moment. She wiped it off with a disgusted expression, before recomposing herself.

“The Dark Legion tastes horrible,” she said simply.

Knuckles looked at the unconscious echidnas at their feet. _Apparently_ , he fought back a laugh.

“Thank Aurora,” Sojourner’s voice came from against the wall opposite the door. “I don’t know how much more of that brute Father could have taken.”

Knuckles and the others turned sharply to face them.

Sojourner and Specter were cuffed and chained solidly against the wall. The latter’s helmet was off, apparently having been flung aside at some point, as it lay several feet away. It was hard to judge the extend of the bruising on the black echidna’s face, but Spectre’s muzzle had several gashes on it, and blood was dripping slowly from his mouth.

He coughed several times, spitting out a few bitter curses.

“Get me out of this damn thing,” Spectre snarled, “so I can flay _his_ ass! I’ll tear his spine out through his cowardly maw!”

“Father,” Sojourner said, “you’re hardly in any shape to stand, let alone fight.”

Knuckles approached his ancestors.

Spectre cursed again.

“Just get me out!” He snapped.

Knuckles sighed, before striking the black echidna’s chains with a solid punch. The hit was enough to loosen the cuffs from the wall, but they were still loosely attached to it.

“Wait, Knuckles!” Saffron flew up to it. “The big Legionnaire had these.” She handed him a small chain, several keys attached to it.

_Oh, right,_ Knuckles chuckled nervously. _Good idea._

He took the keys, opening Spectre’s cuffs with them.

The black echidna instantly leapt for his helmet, grabbing it with one hand. He stumbled towards the unconscious Echidna that had no doubt been the one torturing him, raising his helmet in obvious preparation for a strike using it. He instead stumbled forwards, collapsing to the floor.

“Father,” Sojourner sighed as Knuckles unlocked his manacle. The red echidna limped towards Spectre, gently grabbing him by the arms and lifting him to his feet. “Please, Father. I know you’re angry, but the Brotherhood needs you. If you get yourself killed for the sake of revenge….”

“Is there anywhere safe for you to go and recover?” Knuckles asked. “I know Haven probably isn’t the best…”

“No,” Sojourner said. “That would be a highly bad idea.” He paused. “I recall that Thunderhawk set up a small base on Downunda that he used on the rare occasion that he visited it during his surveillance of the area. We should be safe enough there, at least long enough to regroup.”

“I’m not running—!” Spectre started.

“Our people are going to need our leadership if they’re ever to recover from this,” Sojourner cut his father off. “And, these kids need to know that they still have something to protect, should…” he trailed off.

“Pathetic,” Spectre grumbled, his ranting only half-audible. “Being… by a bunch of whelps….”

“Here.” Knuckles handed Sojourner the Warp Ring. “We’re not going anywhere until everyone’s…” he hesitated, “accounted for. Archie will just have to get the injured out.”

“Yes.” Sojourner nodded. “He knows where we’ll be; just tell him I took Father to Thunderhawk’s.”

“Right.”

“Be careful,” the Guardian said, tossing the Warp Ring and dragging his cursing father with him through it.

“You, too.” Knuckles watched the Ring close. He looked at the others. Liza was focused on a nearby monitor, Saffron floating to watch over her shoulder.

“Guardian,” the chameleon spoke. “I believe I’ve found something.”

“It’s a map!” Saffron exclaimed brightly. “Look!”

Knuckles and Ray both dashed to either side of the girls, each trying to force in a good look at the monitor.

From what Knuckles could see, there were two prison cells a short distance further down the ship, each a hallway apart and almost an equal distance from their current location. If they split up, then they could reach both rooms more quickly—they had to get everyone out and stop the Legion before they reached Albion—but splitting up would also lower their ability to fight any Legionnaires they would encounter.

Fortunately, the intercom system crackled on to make Knuckles’s decision significantly easier.

“Guardian loose in port-side cargo bay,” a nearly-mechanical voice spoke through the speaker on the wall. “All available Legionnaires to cargo bay to subdue Guardian. Guardian to be captured alive, by order of the Grandmaster.”

_Thanks, Dad,_ Knuckles allowed himself a smile.

“Looks like the Legion’s giving us an opportunity,” he said. “Dad’ll be drawing even more of the Legion’s attention, now. Which will let us split up.”

“S-split up?” Benjy asked. “Wh-what about—?”

“We’ll be able to get to both of these cells faster that way,” Saffron pointed out.

“I agree with Knuckles,” Ray said with a nod. “We should hurry.”

“All right,” Knuckles said. “Liza, you take Ray and Benjy with you to this cell,” he pointed to the one on the left, “while Saffron and I take the cell on the right.”

“Got it,” she nodded. “Let’s go!” She led the way as the others followed her out of the room again.

“We’ll meet up further down, where the halls meet again,” Knuckles spoke while running. “If one group isn’t there within ten minutes, then continue on without them.”

“But—!” Benjy started.

“We just don’t have time!” Knuckles cut him off. “See you in ten minutes!” He said, as he and Saffron started down their own hallway.

“Good luck!” Liza shouted as they vanished from sight.

The hall leading to their current destination was empty of further resistance. Knuckles heard nothing but the sound of his own rapid footsteps and Saffron’s wings beating at a furious speed behind him.

“They’ll be okay, right?”

Knuckles glanced at the bee for a split second. She was pouting—barely—her eyes furrowed. Even from such a brief look, it made Knuckles’s insides grow cold.

“They’ll be fine.”

Whether she—or he—was talking about Ray, Liza and Benjy, or about their still captive friends, Knuckles wasn’t sure. Both, perhaps.

In any case, neither of them spoke again until they stopped in front of a large metal door. This was about where the map showed a prisoner cell. With any luck, one of their friends would be currently held in there—or more.

Which, of course, would mean that there would be Legionnaires in the same room.

“Are you ready?” Knuckles turned to Saffron.

Saffron took a deep breath, before silently nodding once.

Knuckles cracked the joints in his fingers, before beating against the door with three solid punches. The third hit went clean through, tearing a large hole in the metal.

“Knock, knock!” Knuckles shouted as he and Saffron leapt through, into a small party of very confused echidnas in black cloaks.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAA!” Saffron shouted as she charged one of the Legionnaires. She grabbed him by the cloak. Surprise granted her the advantage; with the echidna off-guard, she was able to pull him up over her levitating body. She then flipped him solidly to the ground.

The echidna barked in pain.

Saffron didn’t stop her charge. She flew at another echidna, punching her square in the face. The echidna stumbled backwards. A nearby echidna with a cybernetic jaw raised his blaster at Saffron

“Little bitch!” He snapped.

“Hey!” Saffron grabbed him by the wrist, jerking his hand back. “Watch your language!”

He yelped, dropping his weapon. His wrist had back a rather sickening sound from the bee’s attack.

Another echidna attempted to grab Saffron out of the air. She responded by jabbing him in the shoulder with her stinger.

The echidna screamed.

“Oh, dear!” Saffron noticed the slight amount of blood on her stinger. “Terribly sorry,” she said to the echidna, who was lying on the ground, holding his shoulder with both hands. “It’s an instinct, you know….”

Meanwhile, Knuckles was done playing gentle. He forced himself to remember the sight of Echidnapolis, crumbling and burning, with broken bodies scattered without ceremony.

He felt the rage boil from the memory.

And he let it out on the Legionnaires before him.

Knuckles roared, grabbing the nearest one by his dreads. He punched the Legionnaire in the gut. He then kneed him in the groin for good measure, before throwing him to the floor.

Another Legionnaire yelled, leaping at Knuckles, firing at him with her blaster. One shot hit his shoulder. Knuckles shouted in pain. He then grabbed her arm, forcing it back. When met with the natural resistance of her joints’ limits, he applied further pressure until the room suddenly filled with a deafening _crack_!

The echidna screamed, dropping her blaster. She fell to her knees, holding her now-broken arm.

Knuckles didn’t wait for the next to attack. He leapt at the nearest Legionnaire, striking him with an uppercut to the jaw. Then, a second punch to the face.

Another echidna shot at Knuckles. His blast missed, hitting the wall behind the Guardian.

Knuckles looked at him, scowling. His hand was trembling so violently, it was a wonder he could keep a hold of his weapon at all.

_Bamf!_ A cloud of dust burst just in front of the lone Legionnaire.

“G’day!” Archimedes emerged from the dust. He vanished again with another burst, just as the echidna fired again. The scorch mark on the floor was several inches from where the fire ant had been. Another dust cloud accompanied Archie teleporting to his shoulder.

“You’re awfully jumpy, ain’t ya?” The fire ant laughed.

The echidna yelped, reaching for him—

—and grabbing nothing but more dust.

“Over here, lad!” Archie said, causing the echidna to turn to face him. He pointed his blaster more or less at the ant, despite the tremble in his hands.

“Pest….”

“Behind you,” Archie almost sounded bored.

“Huh?” The echidna turned back again, just in time to see Knuckles’s fist make acquaintance with his face.

Knuckles followed through with the opposite fist, hitting him in the gut. While the Legionnaire was doubled over, he gave him a sharp jab with his elbow on the base of the neck. The Legionnaire collapsed to the floor.

“And, stay down!” Knuckles barked at him.

He looked around the room.

Several Legionnaires lay in crumpled heaps on the floor, each one nursing a wound of some sort. The one with whose arm the Guardian had broken was leaning against the wall, glaring at him, her eyes glistening.

“We heard that you needed some help,” Archimedes turned to the prisoners against the wall, obviously attempting to lighten the atmosphere in the wake of the brutal attack.

Three echidnas, two male and one female—the latter unconscious—were held in the mechanical manacles.

_Thunderhawk! Grandfather! Grandmother!_ Knuckles felt relief wash over him in cooling waves. He ran to the pink echidna first. She didn’t respond when he called her name, eyes remaining shut.

“She’s out cold, lad,” Sabre said in a strained voice. “Those bloody gits did a real number on ‘er.”

“Cowards,” Thunderhawk sighed. “Attacking someone who can’t fight back.”

“This is the Legion we’re talking about,” Knuckles said, as he unlocked her cuffs, catching her as she fell limply into his arms. “Would you…?” He awkwardly handed Saffron the keys.

“Very true,” Thunderhawk said, as the bee released him. He rubbed at his wrists.

“Thank you, lad,” Sabre said after being freed, as his grandson handed him his unconscious wife. “She’ll be all right, now. Fortunately, they didn’t hit her with much.” He gently touched her bruised face with one hand. “But, we’re going to need someplace safe to keep her while we… finish dealing with the Legion. Not to mention…” He gingerly placed a hand on his abdomen. “I’m fairly certain those bastards broke several of my ribs.”

“Then, it looks like I arrived just in time,” Archimedes spoke up again. “Anywhere in particular you’d like to go?”

“Sojourner already used my Warp Ring to take Spectre to some place in Downunda,” Knuckles said. He looked at Thunderhawk. “He said it was a place you used during your surveillance there?”

The purple echidna’s face lit up.

“Riiiight!” He said cheerfully. “That old devil! That’s brilliant! Archie, would you be able to teleport Sabre and Jenna-Lu there?”

“Absolutely.” Archie smiled. “You don’t want to join them?”

“I heard that Locke is taking on the Legion somewhere in the ship,” Thunderhawk said. “These blokes were talkin’ about it earlier.”

Sabre scoffed softly.

“Yep,” Archie said. “He’s currently holdin’ his own over in the port-side cargo bay. Most of the Legionnaires on board are grapplin’ with him there. I was assistin’ him until a moment ago.”

“Stubborn fool,” Sabre growled.

“He’d just blown a particularly large hole in the hull when I left,” Archimedes ignored him.

“I figure he needs some help, then?” Thunderhawk smiled.

“Aye.” Archimedes’s smirk grew. “I’ll return for you once I get these two settled.” He teleported onto Sabre’s shoulder, before whisking the echidna and his wife away with him in a particularly large cloud of dust.

“Go on, lad,” Thunderhawk waved Knuckles on. “These chaps ain’t gonna do anything before Archie gets back. You still have friends to save, yeah?”

“Right,” Knuckles said. He looked at Saffron. “We’re miss the rendezvous, anyway. Let’s go!” He started out of the room, the bee close behind. “Take care, ancestor!”

“You, too, lad!” He called after him with a laugh, before his voice sobered. “You, too.”

 

…

…

 

Liza dropped the unconscious echidna, allowing him to join the others on the floor.

“You can let go of him, Ray.”

The flying squirrel released the echidna he’d had in a firm neck hold.

“On the other hand,” one of the prisoners against the wall spoke in a deep voice, “it was an excellent hold. Your form’s improving.”

“Huh?” Ray turned to face the prisoners against the wall for the first time since they’d barreled into the room. “Monk?” He blinked at the large gorilla.

Ray noticed the bees held against the wall on either side of Monk.

“Charmy! Mello!” Ray gave a genuine smile for the first time since the Legion had attacked Echidnapolis.

As soon as Liza had them freed, Ray pulled both bees into a firm hug.

“I’m so happy you guys are okay!” He said, as if his joy were unclear.

Monk walked over to Ray, placing a hand on the flying squirrel’s head.

“I’m very proud of your improvement,” the gorilla said simply.

“Is everyone all right?” Liza asked, taking one of the blasters from a fallen echidna.

“Yeah!” Charmy said with a vigorous nod.

“I mean,”  Mello broke from Ray’s hug to start flying, pacing a short distance back and forth to stretch his wings. “Other than being knocked unconscious and waking up chained against a wall—oh! And watching our home be basically destroyed. Yeah, other than that, we’re just fantastic.”

Liza frowned.

“You don’t have to bit my head off,” she said.

“Peace, child,” Monk said to the bee, who was doing several flips in the air. “Dwelling on past pains will accomplish nothing.”

“Right, right,” Mello muttered.

Ray looked at the floor.

“But, you guys were really brave!” Charmy said. “And cool! Takin’ on those Legion guys!” He punched the air a few times. “Liza, your invisibility is as good as Espio’s! Maybe better! And Benjy, that thing where you hit them with your tail? Wham!” He punched downward for effect.

“I-I….” Benjy rubbed at the back of his neck. He looked away. “I-I wasn’t a-anything…”

“Don’t sell yourself short, child,” Monk said. “With training, you could be a very powerful force in a fight, even on your own.”

Benjy joined Ray in his sudden fascination with the floor.

“Do you know if the others are…?” Ray started.

“No,” Monk said. “However, the Legionnaires spoke as if they were still....” He coughed once. “They plan to use them as an example. I doubt for Albion, but….”

“Either way,” Liza said, “we can’t delay.” She looked at Benjy. “We’re going to be late.” She looked at the gorilla and bees. “Can you fight?”

Charmy and Mello looked at each other.

“I… I think so.”

“Yeah.” Mello punched his open palm in anticipation. “Let’s do it!”

Liza smiled.

_Maybe the future’s in better hands than I thought, with that type of determination…_

“Then, let’s go!” She led them as they ran out the door and down the ship’s halls again.

After a few moments of running, the entire warship shook, causing those of them on the floor to slide to the left a slight amount.

“What?” Liza exclaimed.

“WARNING,” A mechanical voice boomed through the halls. “LOSS OF AIR PRESSURE IN PORT CARGO BAY. ALL LEGIONNAIRES TO EXERCISE EXTREME CAUTION IN AREA.”

“That’ll be the Guardian’s father,” Liza said. “The fire ant said he’d be on the port side.” _Thank you,_ she added silently. _Your efforts are buying us the time we so desperately need._

They resumed running at their usual pace.

_At least we’re not running into any more opposition yet. Though,_ she looked back briefly at her companions, _we’re more than capable of fighting. And our numbers are growing._ She smiled. _We might just do this._

She stopped at the fork she estimated to be their rendezvous point.

“Now,” she said as the others caught up. “We just….”

The sounds of rapid footsteps heralded the arrival of several others.

“Knuckles!” Charmy flew into the red echidna’s arms the moment he came into view, forcing the young Guardian into a tight hug.

“Charmy!” Knuckles returned the hug. “Mello!” His face sobered somewhat when he saw the tall gorilla. “Monk,” he kept his tone civil.

“Guardian,” his tone was equally calm.

“CHARMY!” Saffron caught up to them.

All attempt at conversation was briefly halted as the three bees joyously shouted each others’ names and exchanging hugs. Knuckles glanced at Liza, before both of them smiled.

“Now, we have to find the others.” Ray looked down the next hallway.

“There was one more prison cell between this point and the bridge,” Liza said. “I expect we’ll find most—if not all—of our remaining companions there.”

“Probably.” Knuckles walked over to stand next to Ray. “Kragok probably doesn’t care as much about having as many of them to… present to the world.” He hesitated over the word _kill_. “It wouldn’t surprise me if Lien-Da wants to… vent her past frustrations with us.” He exhaled slowly. _Especially Jules._

“Let’s go.” Knuckles led the charge.

 

…

…

 

Mighty exhaled slowly, breathing through the waves of pain.

“My, you are a resilient one, aren’t you?” The leather-clad red echidna sneered. She raised her whip again. “Good.” Her eyes glistened with the anticipation. “You’ll last longer that way.”

She cracked the whip, snapping it around the armadillo’s neck. Electricity surged through it, pulsing through his body once more.

“Nnnnnngh!” He groaned in pain, clenching his jaw in his desperation to keep from shouting. He didn’t want to give her the satisfaction.

“Come on, you miserable rodent,” Lien-Da sneered. “Sing for me.” She pulled the whip back again.

“Leave him alone!” A pink echidna shouted from further down the wall, on the other side of the large, green crocodile.

_No, Julie-Su_. Mighty opened one eye. _Don’t antagonize her; she’ll just—!_

“Oh, would you like some more, then?” Lien-Da walked over towards her half-sister. She raised her whip.

Mighty couldn’t see around Vector, but he knew from that cracking sound—from the _scream_ —what happened next.

_No,_ he felt the frustration build in his chest. _No. No, no, no, nonononono._ NO!

He pulled against the cuffs of both his hand and ankle manacles with all his might. The metal groaned loudly under the immense pressure.

“Huh?” Lien-Da turned to look at him. “What?” She snapped, as the armadillo forced his manacles apart and off the wall. The metal made a deafening sound as he ripped it apart to do so. The cuffs were now meaningless, simply chunks of metal around his wrists and ankles.

He collapsed to his knees for a brief moment. He looked up at Lien-Da, seeing fear in the Dark Legionnaire’s eyes.

He leapt at her.

She cracked her whip.

Mighty fell to the ground, screaming as wave after wave of agony jolted through his every cell from the whip around his neck.

And then, after another shout, the pain suddenly stopped. Mighty looked up.

And stared.

Lien-Da no longer had her whip in her hands—that alone was a blessing. Instead, however, she had a rather angry flying squirrel grappling her from behind.

“Ray?” Mighty breathed.

The young flying squirrel had the echidna in a solid hold from behind.

“I got ‘er!” He shouted out. “Get the others free!”

Knuckles and Liza charged in, each running to release a prisoner with a key.

Liza released Espio.

“Are you all right?” She asked.

“A little bruised, but I’ve been worse.” Espio shook his head.

“Thank Aurora,” Knuckles sighed, as Julie-Su collapsed into his arms. He held her close in as tight a hug as he could manage without hurting her. “I was afraid you were….”

“I know. It’s okay.”

“Hey, hey, hey!” Vector said, still chained to the wall. “What about me, here?”

“I’ll get that,” Liza unlocked his cuffs. “Is she the only Legionnaire in here?” She nodded towards the Lien-Da, who was now firmly pinned against the wall by both Ray and Monk.

“Apparently,” Julie-Su said, pulling back from Knuckles, “the Kommissar was arrogant enough to believe that she was either safe or able to handle anything that might interrupt her.”

“Caught off guard by a bunch of mongrels,” Lien-Da scoffed against the metal wall. “It’s… _disgraceful_.”

“The bridge isn’t far from here,” Liza pointed out. “Now that we’re all reunited, we should probably get the ship off-course before the fleet reaches Albion.”

“Right.” Knuckles nodded. “I—!”

The door opposite the one they’d entered slid open, revealing a lone hooded echidna with a robotic arm and eye.

“Kommissar!  I need—!”

“Kragok!” Knuckles snarled.

“Guardian!” Kragok blinked, glancing about the room, seeing Lien-Da completely pinned, and how hopelessly outnumbered he was. “Damn it!” He hit the door’s switch—hard—and started to run back the way he came. The door closed behind him.

“We will take care of the ship’s trajectory,” Espio said, motioning to Liza. “We should have no problem sneaking onto the bridge, while you take out that coward.”

Knuckles nodded once at him, before both chameleons vanished from sight.

The sounds of footsteps announced the arrival of a very large number of hooded echidnas at the door the modified Chaotix had entered through.

“You go take him out, Knux,” Vector said, cracking his knuckles as he walked towards the Legionnaires. “We’ve got this.”

“Are you…?”

“I may be a little worn,” Julie-Su placed a hand on his shoulder, “but I’m not beaten. Not by a long shot.”

“I’m just catching my second wind,” Mighty said with a smirk. “It’s time for some frustration to be unleashed on them, for a change.”

“You h-helped me,” Benjy stammered, despite the growing confidence in his voice. “Let m-me help y-you, now.”

Knuckles blinked, before smiling. He nodded once, before turning back to the door.

The Chaotix charged the Legionnaires.

Knuckles tore through the door with a single punch.

 

…

…

 

Kragok ran as fast as he could manage.

Had to get away, he had to get away. Had to find some of his troops.

He could easily beat one or two of those whelps in a fight, but the entirety of the Chaotix? Even he had to admit that it was suicide to just consider.

What on earth had Kommissar done to allow herself to get captured?

He stopped at a dead end, cursing bitterly. Had he taken a wrong turn earlier?

If he was quick, he could—

He turned around to find that he was too late.

A lone, red echidna slowly walked down the hallway towards him.

“Kragok,” Knuckles said in a low voice.

“Guardian,” the word sounded venomous. His foe might be a Guardian, but he wasn’t Grandmaster for nothing. Kragok was confident that he could easily take down just one opponent. He charged at Knuckles.

Kragok grabbed at the metal wall with his robotic claw, ripping a plate off of it. He swung the wall segment at the Guardian.

Knuckles ducked, hitting Kragok in the ankles with a sweeping kick. The Grandmaster fell to his knees. Knuckles punched at his face, but the hooded echidna rolled backwards just in time to dodge.

Kragok leapt to his feet, quickly shuffling backwards. He grabbed the now-exposed wiring in the wall with his robotic hand, ripping a few of the cables. Sparks flew from the frayed wires.

Knuckles’s face showed no hesitation or reluctance. He slowly walked towards Kragok.

For, what reason did he have to hurry? The Grandmaster wasn’t going anywhere; he was trapped.

Knuckles continued, unfazed, as he walked through the dying shower of sparks.

Desperate, Kragok charged him, firing a bolt of electricity from his claw.

Knuckles froze, jaw clenched as he hissed with pain. Despite it, he steeled himself, and continued forward, swinging a solid punch at Kragok.

The attack hit, colliding into Kragok’s face. He stumbled backwards, falling into his rear with an enraged yelp.

Knuckles stood right in front of him, glaring down at the Grandmaster. The sparks created a rain of light behind him, their glow nothing compared to the fire that burned in the Guardian’s eyes.

“There are a lot of people in Echidnapolis whose lives you destroyed. And took.” His voice was level, but the rage was unmistakable. “The Golden Hive, too. Rainbow Valley. All of it. Every drop of their blood is on your hands.” He clenched his hands into fists again. “So, I’m going to start with your face!” The flames in his eyes erupted into an uncontrollable inferno.

Knuckles grabbed Kragok by the cloak with one hand. He hit him with a solid punch.

And a second.

And a third.

Before the fourth could land, however, Kragok grabbed Knuckles’s arm in his metal claw. He pushed back, forcing the arm away.

Knuckles then felt the pressure as the claw tightened. And tightened.

Knuckles’s eyes widened, but he couldn’t even speak before he felt the pain splintering through his arm. Instinctively, he kicked upward, hitting Kragok right between the legs.

Kragok made a strangled mewling sound, releasing the Guardian as he collapsed to the floor.

Knuckles rubbed at his arm. It didn’t seem broken, but it probably had a few thin fractures; he’d have to careful to not put unnecessary pressure on it.

Kragok lifted his robotic arm gingerly, in what appeared to be an attempt to fire another bolt at Knuckles. The young Guardian grabbed the arm by the joint, twisting with all his might.

He felt a familiar surge of energy flow through him, just before the metal groaned and bent under his grip. The arm then tore in two from the pressure, sparks flying everywhere as wires tore and the structure rod snapped.

Kragok screamed.

He picked up Kragok by the back of his cloak with his good hand. He lifted the echidna off of the ground, slamming him headfirst against the wall, before sliding him down along it for a couple of feet.

He released Kragok into a fallen heap on the ground, where he began to kick the hooded echidna repeatedly.

“How does it feel?” Knuckles yelled. “How does it feel to not be able to escape? As someone utterly dominates you? Tell me!”

_Bamf!_

“Knuckles!” Archimedes’s voice caused Knuckles to turn sharply.

The fire ant was standing a few feet away.

“He’s beaten, lad. Let it go.”

“But, he—!”

“I know,” Archie said softly. “But, don’t let him take you, too.”

Knuckles blinked at him.

_Don’t let them change you, Ray._

Knuckles sighed, stepping away from the fallen Grandmaster.

_Some example I am._

He noticed his vision had blurred at some point. When… when had he started crying?

“Let’s go, lad.” Archie said.

“What about the others?”

“They’re already safely on the surface,” Archie said quickly. “We don’t have much time. Between your father’s blasts and the chameleons’ sabotage, this ship’s finished. It’ll be at the bottom of the sea in a few minutes.”

Knuckles looked back at the snarling echidna on the floor behind him. Face bruised and bloody, nose likely broken, metal arm snapped in two. He was spitting blood and cursing at the Guardian.

“Good riddance,” Knuckles said, before reaching out to accept the fire ant.

They teleported in a puff of smoke.

 

…

…

 

“Well,” Thunderhawk said, rubbing at one shoulder. “At least they never reached Albion. Not with that thing.” He watched as the giant warship plummeted into the ocean below. “Rather convenient island, though, eh? Gives us a nice view.”

“Aye,” Archimedes said as he materialized with Knuckles.

“There’s still a lot of those saucers, though,” Julie-Su pointed out. “And Kragok or Lien-Da might still survive. Either way, we’ll need to get to Albion and warn them.”

“Yes,” Locke walked up to them, arm around the shoulder of a limp form, assisting them to walk. They lifted their dark—and heavily bruised—head to reveal—

“Constable!” Knuckles exclaimed.

“Don’t call me that, Guardian,” Remington said between wheezing coughs. He spat out a small chuck on blood. “I’m not Constable of anything, anymore.”

“You’re alive!” Knuckles pointed out.

“Yes.” He gave a dry laugh. “I am that.”

“Seems Kragok wanted him kept alive,” Locke said, looking at Archimedes.

“Interesting….” The fire ant crossed his arms, but said nothing else.

“Hey!” Vector shouted, walking up to them. “You all right there?”

“I think we could all use some rest,” Julie-Su said. “And, probably some medical attention.”

“Yeah,” Knuckles said, gingerly touching his sore arm. He looked down to the beach, where the bees were cheering together. The chameleons exchanged a smile at the sight. Monk lifted Benjy up onto his shoulders, the kangaroo shouting loudly from the sudden action.

“I think we’ll recover.”


End file.
